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Astros have time to evaluate trade options

Astros have time to evaluate trade options

The Houston Astros enter the All-Star break as the top team in baseball.

The All-Star break will be anything but rest for the Astros front office.

Winning 60 of the first 88 games is one thing, but emerging victorious in October is another. Houston is well-positioned to own the AL’s best record by season’s end. The focus now is on how it can navigate the depths of playoff baseball.

The Astros want to upgrade their rotation; that’s not a secret. The break allows general managers and staffs to speak with each other, investigate everyone’s mindset and potentially lay the ground work for trades.

Houston is reportedly interested in the White Sox’s Jose Quintana, Oakland’s Sonny Gray and others. Is Marcus Stroman of Toronto available? What about Julio Teheran with the Braves? Bet the Astros are in on them, too.

The window is wide open. Houston boasts one of the youngest teams in the sport, a young core perfectly complemented by grizzled veterans. It needn’t milk its assets as if it’s 2017 or never. But it’s a down year for baseball. The Astros and Dodgers stand clearly above everyone else. Perhaps Houston should capitalize on that vulnerability.

Rotation notwithstanding, the Astros could add a dominant reliever. Maybe try to build a bullpen akin to the 2015 Royals if the starting pitching market doesn’t fall in their favor. A guy like Brad Hand in San Diego would be a scary addition to the playoff outlook.

Would Houston dip into its prospect riches to make a move? It’s anyone’s guess. Richard Justice of MLB.com didn’t rule it out.

“This is the kind of decision every general manager both hates and loves to have to make,” Justice writes. “Houston flies into the All-Star break with a 60-29 record and a whopping 16 1/2-game lead in the American League West. As a result, the Astros may have the kind of opportunity franchises do not have very often, and (general manager Jeff) Luhnow has constructed a farm system good enough to acquire almost anyone -- from, say, Padres reliever Brad Hand to Athletics starter Sonny Gray.”

Luhnow has been conservative throughout the rebuild. But even he couldn’t have seen this team erupting as it has. The postseason is a game of luck. It’s up to

Luhnow if he wants to swap out some of the future to obtain better odds.